The Half Elven
by Dwarf Runelord75
Summary: A story I thought up whilst trying to make an ending for The Meaning of Life... An ElladanElrohirEstel fanic, this is the story of Aragorn's upbringing and some other bits and bobs. Please R&R! Rated T for violence and horror
1. Prologue

THE HALF ELVEN

A Lord of the Rings fanfic.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, most characters; most items and most places belong to J.R.R Tolkien or Games Workshop (to whom we owe the name of the Hill Troll, Buhrdûr, and Gûlavhar, the Terror of Arnor).

Prologue

A small fox lifted its head into the air and sniffed cautiously. There was a strange scent in the air, a scent that it had not smelt for a while now. It was the scent of death. The fox, hearing almost silent footsteps coming down the path, ducked for cover under the roots of a large tree.

At least fifteen pairs of feet tiptoed along the beaten track, all clad in either thick leather boots or, in the case of two pairs, Elven platemail. A voice came from above one pair of boots as they turned around, leading the rest of the group to a halt.

"Quiet, we're almost there," whoever it was said in a stage whisper. Then, they turned round again, and the group sneaked off into the night.

Rhudaur, thought Arathorn, was quiet that night. Too quiet. The recent reports from the Rangers that guarded these lands said that there had been Troll activity here, but as far as Arathorn could see, no Trolls had been here…

His thoughts turned to his wife and child. Gilraen had given birth to his son, Aragorn, two years previously, and he missed them both.

Suddenly, there was a cry of pain, and a Ranger collapsed dead on the path. Arathorn ran over to him and bent over his body, into which an Orc arrow had embedded itself.

"Orcs!" he spat, and drew his sword. The remainder of the company did likewise, as at least thirteen Orcs jumped down onto the path from the banks, weapons raises, itching for battle. Before anyone could move, a huge shape jumped down from the bank and hit Arathorn hard, pinning him to the ground. He looked up to see a huge, drooling Warg with open jaws.

An arrow hit the Warg's side and it collapsed, rolling off Arathorn. He spun around to see Elrohir, the son of Elrond, his bow raised, already knocking another arrow.

"Well met, Elrohir, son of Elrond!" Arathorn cried.

"Well met, Arathorn, Dúnedain Chieftain!" replied Elrohir as he sheathed his bow and drew two Elven blades of exceptional craftsmanship, ready to parry a charging Orc.

Around Arathorn, the battle raged intently, and it seemed that the Rangers, caught off guard, were losing. Arathorn had lead them into a trap.

There was a cry of horror from further up the path. Three trolls came rampaging down it, two of them swinging their clubs wildly, not caring if they hit Man or Orc. The third, and biggest of the lot, cleaved a Ranger in half with a long, rusted blade. The troll was Buhrdûr, Hill Troll Chieftain, servant of the powers of Angmar. From that moment, Arathorn knew that in this battle one Chieftain had to fall.

"Arathorn!" someone yelled, "Look out!" Arathorn instinctively turned around to see who had spoken, but then felt a terrible pain in his back. As he collapsed, he turned to face the Orcs, whose bows were drawn, ready for another volley.

Buhrdûr smashed his way through the ranks of the Rangers until he came to Arathorn's dying body. He placed his large, stinking, heavy foot onto Arathorn's chest and laughed. He pulled up his blade and sunk it into the captain's flesh.

The trolls left the battlefield after the fall of Arathorn, followed by the Wargs and Orcs. Their work was done. Now it was time to report to their master. Nobody chased after them, for the force was not strong enough. Instead, they bore Arathorn's body back to Rivendell, where it remained.

"You do realise, father," said Elladan, Elrohir's twin brother, "That Gilraen will have to be informed of what has happened."

"I have already sent word of Arathorn's death," replied Elrond, bowing his head solemnly, "Gilraen plans to send Aragorn here to grow up, she thinks it would be safer for him."

"And what do you think, father?" asked Elladan. Elrond did not speak for some time, but gazed out at the starry sky. After some time, he spoke.

"I do not now, Elladan. I do not know."

Wow, that was pretty long for me. Or was it pretty short? For those of you who are wondering where Arwen is, she's off with Granny Galadriel and Grandad Celeborn in Lórien. She might feature later in the story.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Arzag's Mound

Ten long years had passed since Arathorn's death. In this time, Aragorn, or Estel (Hope) as he was known, was not told of his true ancestry. He assumed that all of his life he had grown up with Elrond as his father. During his stay In Rivendell he often went adventuring with Elladan and Elrohir into the wild, defeating Orc warbands or hunting Wargs.

During this time, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the Grey visited Rivendell, along with a company of Dwarves. They were the company that were destined to reclaim Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, for the Dwarves. It is also around this time that Bilbo stole the Ring from Gollum.

Estel never met Bilbo, but became good friends with Gandalf, who would put on small firework displays for his amusement. Secretly, Elrond thought that the wizard had plans for Estel.

In the years that he stayed at Rivendell, Estel became a master with a sword and bow, and the Elves could not help noticing that he was a lot like his father.

On Estel's fourteenth birthday, Elladan and Elrohir took him on a raiding party into some caves that would change his life.

"What are we looking for?" Estel kept asking. Elladan and Elrohir kept giving each other funny looks, but did not answer. Eventually, Elrohir spoke.

"We're not looking for any Orcs, brother. Father says that it is time for us to show you something."

"What are you going to show me?"

"Do you remember the wizard Gandalf?"

"Vaguely. But I remember his fireworks!" Elrohir smiled before continuing.

"You can do a lot more with magic than make fireworks, Estel. Some people can even enchant spirits to do their bidding."

"So that's what we're going to fight! Spirits!" Estel pretended briefly to fight with invisible spectres. Both Elladan and Elrohir laughed.

"Not quite. We're looking for something hidden in this cave that was taken a very long time ago."

"What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of the Rings of Power?"

"Three for the Elves, seven for Dwarves, nine for Men. Plus the One makes twenty."

"Yes. We're looking for what we think is one of the seven Dwarf rings that some Goblins stole long ago."

"Goblins? I thought you said that they were spirits?"

"The Goblins hid in these tunnels, but were killed by the Witch King's spirits. Their leader is Arzag, he's a..."

"Quiet!" Elladan whispered, and the three adventurers halted.

Up ahead was a huge mound. It glowed slightly, and they saw that it was inhabited by spectres. Atop the mound was a small ring.

"There!" whispered Estel, and pointed at the ring. Elrohir, however, was frozen with horror. His brother was likewise. "What's wrong?"

"Skulls…" gasped Elladan, "It's a mound of skulls." Estel screwed his eyes up and saw to his horror that Elladan was right. Thousands of Goblin skulls had been piled up to make the Ring's mound. Slowly, the three of them backed around the corner.

"Now what?" Estel asked slowly, "We'll never be able to climb up and reach it."

"We have to try," replied Elrohir, "If you climb the mound and grab the ring, we'll fight off Arzag's lot." Estel felt a sense of pride overcome him. He was going to do this! He had been chosen!

"Okay," he said, not sounding at all nervous, "Let's go."

Elladan hoisted Estel up onto the mound, and drew his sword. Elrohir was making a mark with chalk that would ward off most spirits.

Estel climbed higher and higher. The more he climbed, the further away the top seemed to be. Suddenly, there was a crunch. Estel looked down to see that his foot had made a hole in one of the skulls.

"Estel!" one of the twins shouted. Estel looked down to see hundreds of spirits floating up the tower, swords drawn…

"Elrohir, get him down from there!" Elladan shouted as he tried stabbing an undead soldier. Elrohir began to panic; he couldn't just climb past all of those spirits.

"Estel, jump off!" he yelled. Estel seemed frozen with fear, all was lost. But a small skull that rolled off the mound caught his attention. "Elladan! Get ready to catch Estel!" he shouted.

"What?" Elladan yelled as yet more spirits assailed him. But Elrohir was already scraping skulls off the mound; they tumbled down to the stone floor with a clunk and a crack. "Elrohir, what are you doing?"

"Trust me!"

"No!"

"Just get ready to catch him!" Elladan raised his arms with a confused look, as the mound began to crash down. "Estel! Jump now!" Estel jumped, but missed Elladan, and hit the floor with a thud. And the skulls came crashing down on top of him.

Now all we need is Eastenders drum beats. Well, that's the first bit done. When this is finished I'll be known as Dwarf Runelord75 of Long Chapters. Please R&R people!


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Elrond's Worries

"I can't believe he's alive."

"How far up was he?"

"Quite high…is father back yet?"

"No, he went out. He's going to kill us when he gets back!"

Elladan and Elrohir were by Estel's bedside at Rivendell, the Last Homely House. Estel was unconscious, but thankfully he was still breathing.

"What's going on here?" A figure walked into the room, removing a blue travelling cloak as he did so.

"Nothing Erestor!" the twins said in union, drawing together to hide Estel from view.

"What are you doing in here?" Erestor asked with a stern frown. Elladan hesitated, but Elrohir answered.

"Estel wanted to play hide and seek," he said quickly. Erestor continued to frown for a second, but then smiled.

"I'll tell you if I see him," he said, and they bowed respectfully as he left. When his footsteps could not be heard, Elladan closed the door and slumped against it with a sigh.

"That was too close," he muttered as he put his head in his hands. Elrohir nodded, and then turned around as Estel began to stir. Elladan got up and ran over. "Estel! Speak to me!"

"Elladan…" Estel whispered hoarsely, "Elrohir…" he closed his eyes again and Elladan bent further over him. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and his hands flew around Elladan's neck. "I'm going to kill you!" he yelled as he strangled his brother.

"What's going on?" Elrohir spun round again as his father Elrond entered. "Estel, please let go of Elladan. Why are you in bed? Did you find the Ring?"

"Erm…"

"Elrohir?" Elrohir looked briefly at his brother, who was massaging his neck.

"Well…we found the Ring, but we didn't get it."

"And why is Estel in bed, covered in bruises?"

"It's my fault, father," Estel piped up. Elladan looked at him with surprise. "I tried to climb a pile of skulls to get the Ring, but it fell down."

"I see…well, be more careful next time."

"I will, father." Elrond smiled and left the room. Elrohir turned back to Estel.

"Why did you say that?" Estel looked sheepish for a moment, but then answered.

"I didn't want you to get into trouble with father." Elrohir smiled at him, and sat on the end of his bed.

"That's very kind of you, but you shouldn't have lied."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Elrond's voice could be heard through a gap in the wall.

"Father's calling you," said Elladan. Elrohir got up, opened the door and closed it behind him, but not to quickly as to not spot his brothers drawing their fingers across their throats.

Elrond opened the door to his study and beckoned for Elrohir to come in. The sun shone through a stained glass window that depicted the creation of Middle Earth. The room smelt heavily of oak and age.

Elrond pulled out a chair from behind his desk and gave it to Elrohir. Both of them sat down, and Elrond stared vacantly at a small stain on the polished wood.

"Father?" said Elrohir gently after about three minutes. Elrond looked up, and Elrohir saw that his father's face looked troubled. "What's wrong, father?"

"It is Estel that I am concerned about," he said slowly, "I did not believe him for a second when he told me what happened." Elrohir opened his mouth, and then closed it again when he couldn't think of anything to say. "Perhaps he thought that I would be angry with you if you told me the truth? Perhaps he thought that I would be angry with you if you told me that you two sent him to fetch the Ring?"

"I'm sorry, father. I…" Elrohir began, but Elrond silenced him.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that if Estel continues this sticking up for people, he may end up hurt, or in danger." Elrohir nodded, and Elrond continued. "I want you two to keep an eye on Estel, make sure that he doesn't do anything reckless."

"Why…"

"Don't ask questions!" Elrond snapped, and Elrohir pushed his chair back slightly in alarm. Both of them stared at each other for a moment, and then Elrond put his head in his arms. That, thought Elrohir, was the time to leave.


End file.
